Bitcoin.com is pleased to unveil plans to offer one of the world’s first oracles for smart contracts on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain. The autonomous feature will allow specialized prediction markets and decision-based transactions for sports scores, political results, and market exchange rates.

Bitcoin.com’s Oracle Section: Verifiable Multi-Sourced Facts

Since the Bitcoin Cash network upgrades in May and November, the protocol and its scripting language is now far easier for coding smart contracts, decision-based transactions, and predictive oracles. Aided by opcodes like OP_Checkdatasig (DSV) and Bitcoin Cash’s 32MB blocks, BCH is one of the simplest and most secure platforms to build your smart contract. By building the Bitcoin.com Oracle, we plan to utilize the benefits of the BCH network and all the new features added during the last upgrades in order to provide verifiable multi-sourced facts.

The basics of an oracle with enough valid data can prove ideal for executing decisions and triggering smart contracts. Back in the ancient days of civilization, humans often visited oracles, validated reports, created prediction markets, and attempted to forecast the probability of outcomes in order to make better decisions. With the new opcodes like DSV, Bitcoin Cash network participants can validate data when certain conditions are met within the smart contract. BCH-based oracles can theoretically trigger any type of smart contract from any type of data that exists outside the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

Empowering Global Participation

There are so many use cases for BCH-powered oracles and autonomous contracts that can be executed by using verifiable data. With Bitcoin.com’s Oracle, we hope to provide tools that can monitor personal goals, track sports results, detect exchange rate movements, record social media platforms, and monitor news. Alongside this, you could even track the Bitcoin Cash code repository, pull requests and more with our oracle pulling data from Github’s API and other sources. Historically, oracles have been centralized, but by utilizing the security of the distributed BCH ledger we can trust the autonomous oracles to determine certain outcomes. Going beyond the limits of centralized entities, BCH-based oracles provide the means for global participation because peer-to-peer BCH transactions are cheap and reliable.

At the moment our Bitcoin.com Oracle is still under development. But if you would like to get in on beta access when the code is available, please sign up for our Oracle Newsletter. Furthermore, if you would like to contribute or provide feedback, you can reach out to us through the oracle landing page and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. “We’d love some help charting out exactly what the most usable platform would look like for the users,” explained Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver on the Reddit forum r/btc on Monday.

What do you think about the Bitcoin.com Oracle idea? Let us know what you think about this project in the comments section below.

Bitcoin Cash Price Analysis

Bitcoin cash price formed a solid support near the $80 level this past week and later recovered above $90. The upside move was positive as the BCH/USD pair broke the $100 resistance as well. It gained more than 25% in the past few hours and broke the $115 resistance.

On the upside, the next resistance is at $120, above which it could test the $125 resistance. On the downside, an initial support is at $110, below which the price may find strong bids near $105 and $100.

Litecoin (LTC), Tron (TRX) and ADA Price Analysis

Litecoin price started a major upward move and traded above the $25 and $28 resistance levels. LTC price even broke the $30 resistance and it is currently facing hurdles near the $32 and $35 levels.

Tron price finally made a nice bullish move and jumped above the $0.0140 and $0.0150 resistance levels. The price is currently up around 8% and it could soon break the $0.0175 resistance for an upside extension.

Cardano price rallied after it settled above the $0.0300 support. ADA gained pace above the $0.0320 resistance and broke the $0.0350 resistance. It is currently up around 8% to $0.0362 and buyers might push the price towards $0.0380.

Looking at the total cryptocurrency market cap hourly chart, there was a solid upward move above the $110.00B and $115.00B resistance levels. The market cap even cleared the $120.00B resistance and tested the $121.50B level. In the short term, there could be a minor downside correction, but the $115.00B and $114.00B levels are decent supports. Therefore, Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, litecoin, ripple, and other altcoins could correct lower in the short term, but dips remain supported.

]]>https://1bitcoins.net/crypto-market-extend-gains-litecoin-ltc-bitcoin-cash-tron-trx-ada-price-analysis/feed/0Chinese Internet Court Uses Blockchain To Combat Online Plagiarismhttps://1bitcoins.net/chinese-internet-court-uses-blockchain-to-combat-online-plagiarism/
https://1bitcoins.net/chinese-internet-court-uses-blockchain-to-combat-online-plagiarism/#respondWed, 19 Dec 2018 05:55:08 +0000https://www.ccn.com/?p=153606An Internet Court launched in Eastern Chinese City Hangzhou will now use blockchain to fight plagiarism for online writers, local Chinese news outlet China.org.cn reported. China launched its first internet court in the city of Hangzhou to deal with internet related cases, save time and reduce overhead costs of getting justice out of the system. At

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An Internet Court launched in Eastern Chinese City Hangzhou will now use blockchain to fight plagiarism for online writers, local Chinese news outlet China.org.cn reported. China launched its first internet court in the city of Hangzhou to deal with internet related cases, save time and reduce overhead costs of getting justice out of the system.

At the time of the launch, the court was expected to accept court filings and cases electronically and given the mandate to rule online cases via live stream. Plaintiffs may verify their identity with a government-issued ID or through their Alipay account.

The Hangzhou Internet Court operates as an incubator for the governance of the internet space in China to settle “diversified Internet disputes, and a ‘first mover’ for the transformation of Internet trials.”

Hangzhou has a large percentage of online writers in China. The Binjiang District of the city has a “writers’ village,” which is home to over a hundred popular online writers. These writers have had issues with piracy over the years, and it has become increasingly challenging for them to prove their ownership of any piece of work. The report stated that while these writers used to resort to downloaded content and screenshots as proof of ownership, these pieces of ‘proof’ can easily be forged, making them ineffective as evidence.

From netcourt.gov.cn

Court To Use Blockchain Evidence in Copyright Infringement Cases

The expense of legal services and notary fees also make it difficult for writers to pursue justice against those who infringe on their copyright, the report argued. However, the Hangzhou Internet Court believes that it is nearly impossible to tamper with evidence that is logged on a distributed ledger or blockchain, “due to its decentralized and open distributed ledger technology.”

Wang Jiangqiao, who works as a judge at the court, was of the opinion that blockchain is beneficial to writers due to its tamper-proof nature, which gives it the ability to “track “authorship, time of creation, content, and evidence of infringement.”

A few weeks ago, the Hangzhou Internet Court became the first court in China to recognize blockchain technology as a means of storing evidence. The decision stemmed from a case in which the plaintiff, a company based in Hangzhou, sued the defendant, a Shenzhen-based tech firm, or making publications of the plaintiff’s copyrighted material on its official website.

The plaintiff captured the webpage of the defendant as well as the source code, and uploaded them to the Bitcoin blockchain. After investigations were concluded, the Hangzhou Internet Court maintained that this form of electronic data would henceforth serve as a form of evidence in copyright infringement cases.

Ripple price rallied further and traded above the $0.3600 resistance level against the US dollar.

There was a break above an ascending channel with resistance at $0.3520 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).

The pair remains supported above $0.3500 and $0.3400, with a bullish angle.

Ripple price traded further higher above key resistances against the US Dollar and Bitcoin. XRP/USD is likely to accelerate gains towards the $0.4000 level.

Ripple Price Analysis

Yesterday, we saw a bullish wave above $0.3200 in ripple price against the US Dollar, and were hoping for a test of $0.3600. The XRP/USD pair did gain momentum above the $0.3400 resistance and it even broke $0.3600. The price is now trading well above the $0.3400 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. The recent high was formed at $0.3678 and the price remains in a solid uptrend.

Moreover, there was a break above an ascending channel with resistance at $0.3520 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair. The same channel resistance may now act as a support at $0.3520. It coincides with the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $0.3208 low to $0.3678 high. If there is a downside extension below $0.3520, the price may revisit the $0.3400-0.3420 support area. Besides, the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $0.3208 low to $0.3678 high is also near $0.3440. Therefore, if the price corrects lower, it is likely to find a strong support above $0.3400.

Looking at the chart, ripple price is placed nicely in an uptrend above $0.3400 and the 100 hourly SMA. On the upside, the price is likely to break the $0.3678 swing high. The next stop for buyers could be $0.3850 or $0.4000.

Looking at the technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD for XRP/USD is placed nicely in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for XRP/USD is currently in the oversold region.

Major Support Level – $0.3440

Major Resistance Level – $0.3850

]]>https://1bitcoins.net/ripple-price-analysis-xrp-resumes-uptrend-0-4000-next/feed/0Op-Ed: Defrauded Municipalities Demonstrate Use Case For Smart Contractshttps://1bitcoins.net/op-ed-defrauded-municipalities-demonstrate-use-case-for-smart-contracts/
https://1bitcoins.net/op-ed-defrauded-municipalities-demonstrate-use-case-for-smart-contracts/#respondWed, 19 Dec 2018 04:55:08 +0000http://www.ccn.com/?p=154576In June, Galveston County (Texas) discovered that it had paid over $525,000 to someone it didn’t owe money to, a scam artist posing as a representative of a firm doing work for the county. The author contends this would be nearly impossible in a system of smart contracts described herein. The scammer used social engineering

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In June, Galveston County (Texas) discovered that it had paid over $525,000 to someone it didn’t owe money to, a scam artist posing as a representative of a firm doing work for the county. The author contends this would be nearly impossible in a system of smart contracts described herein.

The scammer used social engineering to talk his way into a small fortune. According to the most recent reporting, the funds have never been recovered, prompting a local judge to call for the resignation of the two parties he feels most responsible.

Note: the author’s opinions are his own and do not reflect the views of CCN or its other staff.

While the stolen funds are a tiny fraction of Galveston County’s $149 million budget, similar cyber attacks have raised the alarm in other Texas localities, including in Harris County, where $888,000 was nearly stolen by a person posing as an accountant with a Hurricane Harvey contractor. The city of El Paso was also robbed of $3 million in 2016 from a phony vendor.

Human error beats all in the rock, paper, scissors of life. Police entrusted with law and order frequently misapply it. People forget their passwords or lose their two-factor authentication devices. And occasionally clerks part ways with hundreds of thousands of dollars of their constituency’s money.

If only there were a technology that could prevent such nonsense. Something secure, with built-in authentication and protocols to prevent both fraud and default. If only – ah, wait. There is such a thing. The very technology we cover most frequently here at CCN: blockchains and smart contracts.

Galveston Beach, Galveston County, Texas

How A Smart Contract Could Have Prevented The Fraud In Galveston County

One thing ought to be made clear here: the situation of a municipality paying and offering contracts does not necessarily present a use case for a fully decentralized blockchain. Nor does it exactly refute the need of one, but hear the author out.

Instead, let’s talk about a distributed, permissioned ledger. Not only because it’s easier for local mandarins to stomach if they know they have the ability to override mistakes, but also because ultimately the immutable rules of cryptographic smart contracts have to be cognizant of the ebb and flow of laws and regulations.

This is to say, a real value in such a smart contract would be its ability to providereversibility, something cryptonaughts have often lamented about the existing financial system but which in this case did not work out for Galveston County.

This idea might be unpopular, so why not elaborate some?

First of all, reversibility would be far less necessary in a system where users are required to authenticate themselves in order to receive payment, not simply convince a few clerks that they were the real McCoy. Secondly, contractors would be incentivized to protect their authentication credentials, because if the system were properly designed, the funds would only be allocated to such contracts once. Meaning that if by some means an attacker compromised the credentials of the contractor and eventually got away with the money, it’s coming out of the contractor’s payment, not the taxpayer’s pockets.

Transparency and AML-Friendly Stablecoins To The Rescue

But smart contracts provide other important benefits for municipal contracting systems.

For one, the strict implementation of milestones would become possible. A contractor is paid based on progress, an agreed-upon amount at a time. This would open competition and save taxpayers money. Some contractors are more efficient than others. Those who can bid shorter times and lower prices across the board will win, while those who actually perform will win future bids. A separate bid on each milestone of a project can be made.

Of course, the most important part of this for the public would be that the important details of the transactions would become publicly available. Deadlines on specific aspects of projects, who is doing the work, and how much it is costing the taxpayer would create a degree of accountability not available in the opaque systems of present day. There is a chance it would make civic participation interesting to more citizens, as they can now gather facts without nearly the effort.

As to the actual payment mechanism, well, that’s the trickiest part. The author doesn’t advocate that suddenly contractors must be paid in Bitcoin, but perhaps stablecoins could be considered as the tokens that would be locked in the smart contracts, with the payer footing the cost of transaction fees and compensating for tax liabilities incurred. The system would have to project enough savings overall to be viable.

But one thing that would be less likely, if even possible, in a system where code backed by laws was the final arbiter: the theft of many thousands of dollars with a few phone calls and falsified documents. A much greater effort would be required to conduct such theft, and ultimately if stablecoins were used, the realization of such proceeds would be far harder to achieve than with regular old fiat cash.

Images from Shutterstock.

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